The inaugural co-winner of the Nelson Mandela Prize has appealed for funds to help Syrian youths receive university education and prevent a “lost generation” of graduates.
Jorge Sampaio, 80, the former president of Portugal who was one of the two recipients of the prize in 2015, believes that Syria can only be rebuilt if its youths are properly educated.
After six years of civil war, much of Syria’s university system is no longer functioning. There are 35,000 refugee students who are not receiving tuition but who could make a significant difference to Syria’s future when peace returns, Mr Sampaio said on the eve of the second Mandela Prize ceremony.
The prize is awarded five yearly to two recipients - a man and a woman - for services to humanity.
“Syria is a very important country in the Middle East but the fighting means there is a real danger for a lost generation of educated children and you cannot afford to lose a whole generation,” Mr Sampaio said from Portugal.
“If you don’t pay attention to higher education in an emergency, then when you want to reconstruct these countries you will not have a population with a higher education who can do the most to help.”
Research has shown that private and social returns of tertiary education in developing countries is 16 per cent compared with 12 per cent in high-income countries.
Mr Sampaio founded the Global Platform for Syrian Students in 2014, which has since awarded 550 scholarships annually.
In Portugal, 45 Syrian students have resumed their university studies under the programme that is supported by the Council of Europe and the Arab League.
In the coming months, Mr Sampaio, who led Portugal for a decade from 1996, is trying to raise funds for refugee students from Syria and 37 conflict-stricken countries.
“It always comes down to money,” he said. “You have to support efforts to provide academic opportunities for students caught in conflict.
"I have no limits on how much cash we will take, anything from $1 to $1 million. We hope to help one million students but the sky is no limit.”
Mr Sampaio said that Covid-19 was creating even more uncertainty.
“Everything is changing and we don’t know exactly how," he said.
"We are living in a great moment of change. It is clear that we need a lot of experts to respond to various threats in our society.”
Mr Sampaio, who was in the Middle East during the Arab uprisings of 2011, said the key to resolving the conflicts in Syria and the region was a lasting settlement between Palestine and Israel.
“If you don’t settle the Israeli-Arab situation, with Palestine at the core of the problem, it’s very difficult to end this confrontation," he said.
“All the efforts through the years never succeed because no one wants to give in to a plan.
"I am very worried and there have been many missed opportunities. Now it’s much more radical and difficult.”
Formally named the UN Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Prize, the award recognises the achievements of those who dedicate their lives to the service of humanity.
Mr Sampaio was honoured in 2015 for his promotion of human rights and leadership in the struggle for the restoration of democracy in Portugal.
His co-laureate, ophthalmologist Dr Helena Ndume of Namibia, was recognised for her life’s work in treating blindness and eye-related illnesses in the developing world.
Mr Sampaio said the world now needed great leadership to fight the Covid-19 “darkness”.
“If you don’t find a global approach to this problem, we will be in real difficulties,” he said.
“There are so many challenges that you really need strong leadership at all levels. Leaders like Nelson Mandela are an extremely good example.”
The President of the UN General Assembly, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, will announce the 2020 prize recipients on Friday and they will be recognised at a virtual meeting on July 20.
On Saturday, the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, will make the 18th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture.
In his speech, entitled Tackling the Inequality Pandemic: A New Social Contract for a New Era, he is expected to take direct aim at the severe and systemic forms of inequality that are being exposed and exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
For the first time, the annual lecture will be made online, with Mr Guterres joined by other speakers in South Africa, including President Cyril Ramaphosa.
He will also take questions from South African youths.
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESmartCrowd%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2018%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESiddiq%20Farid%20and%20Musfique%20Ahmed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%20%2F%20PropTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%24650%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2035%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeries%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EVarious%20institutional%20investors%20and%20notable%20angel%20investors%20(500%20MENA%2C%20Shurooq%2C%20Mada%2C%20Seedstar%2C%20Tricap)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Fines for littering
In Dubai:
Dh200 for littering or spitting in the Dubai Metro
Dh500 for throwing cigarette butts or chewing gum on the floor, or littering from a vehicle.
Dh1,000 for littering on a beach, spitting in public places, throwing a cigarette butt from a vehicle
In Sharjah and other emirates
Dh500 for littering - including cigarette butts and chewing gum - in public places and beaches in Sharjah
Dh2,000 for littering in Sharjah deserts
Dh500 for littering from a vehicle in Ras Al Khaimah
Dh1,000 for littering from a car in Abu Dhabi
Dh1,000 to Dh100,000 for dumping waste in residential or public areas in Al Ain
Dh10,000 for littering at Ajman's beaches
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
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- 600-seat auditorium
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Engine 60kwh FWD
Battery Rimac 120kwh Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (LiNiMnCoO2) chemistry
Power 204hp Torque 360Nm
Price, base / as tested Dh174,500
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
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Engine: 4.4-litre V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 523hp
Torque: 750Nm
Price: Dh469,000
Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
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Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
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Her most famous song
Aghadan Alqak (Would I Ever Find You Again)?
Would I ever find you again
You, the heaven of my love, my yearning and madness;
You, the kiss to my soul, my cheer and
sadness?
Would your lights ever break the night of my eyes again?
Would I ever find you again?
This world is volume and you're the notion,
This world is night and you're the lifetime,
This world is eyes and you're the vision,
This world is sky and you're the moon time,
Have mercy on the heart that belongs to you.
Lyrics: Al Hadi Adam; Composer: Mohammed Abdel Wahab
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company profile
Company: Rent Your Wardrobe
Date started: May 2021
Founder: Mamta Arora
Based: Dubai
Sector: Clothes rental subscription
Stage: Bootstrapped, self-funded
In numbers
1,000 tonnes of waste collected daily:
- 800 tonnes converted into alternative fuel
- 150 tonnes to landfill
- 50 tonnes sold as scrap metal
800 tonnes of RDF replaces 500 tonnes of coal
Two conveyor lines treat more than 350,000 tonnes of waste per year
25 staff on site
Sri Lanka's T20I squad
Thisara Perera (captain), Dilshan Munaweera, Danushka Gunathilaka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Ashan Priyanjan, Mahela Udawatte, Dasun Shanaka, Sachith Pathirana, Vikum Sanjaya, Lahiru Gamage, Seekkuge Prasanna, Vishwa Fernando, Isuru Udana, Jeffrey Vandersay and Chathuranga de Silva.
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AndhaDhun
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan
Rating: 3.5/5
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